So what? Asians and whites are discriminated by government agencies, universities and large corporations. Last time HR manager screamed at me because I insisted my race is 'slavic' not 'white'.
Is the shared economy racist?
51–60 of 171 posts
Re: Is the shared economy racist?
#52This isn't limited to white hosts either. My brother stayed with a black couple during an internship in DC last summer (he's white). They told him that after several bad experiences they no longer host black guests.
Was the place run by Uncle Ruckus?
Re: Is the shared economy racist?
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
People as a whole have been getting less racist. The only problem is that "less racist" still is not as good as many people think it is.
People are also more racist than normal when their assets are on the line (aka paranoia).
There are financial consequences for getting this one wrong.
Research shows that if a neighborhood is "becoming more black" or "becoming more white", that has implications for property valuation. (Yes, this comes from racism, in case you were wondering.)
Who wants to be the guinea pig to wager the value of his house on diversity? (... and it's fine if you do, just be aware that it has implications)
Re: Is the shared economy racist?
#54There's a really simple explanatory mechanism, which is that even if an AirBnB host is bound by the same anti-discrimination provisions of the Civil Rights Act as a Hyatt, which is probably true, holding individual service providers accountable at that level is basically impossible. And to the extent that the "sharing economy" involves more individuals rather than businesses that can be sued, you will see more discri…
You are exaggerating to some point and I am happy to provide some facts and scientific theory.
I will address only one part of your argument. You argue that segregation in Detroit means people are more racist and only government regulation keeps them in check.
However, Thomas Schelling, an authoritative economist with published papers in peer-reviewed journals coined a model of segregation, that was named after him.
Shelling segregation model showed that a preference that one's neighbors be of the same color, or even a preference for a mixture "up to some limit", could lead to total segregation, thus arguing that motives, malicious or not, were indistinguishable as to explaining the phenomenon of complete local separation of distinct groups.
That means that segregation may occur even with communities that consist mostly of non-racist individuals or individual with very low level of racism.
Racism is a big problem, but emotional, visceral approach to it doesn't help anyone.
Btw, I learned about this model in Coursera Model Thinking mooc. Highly recommended, very interesting for anyone who is interested in deeper knowledge about the world.
Re: Is the shared economy racist?
#55This is so depressing to make AirBnb or Uber responsible for the image of Black people that the Black people worked so long and hard to achieve and maintain.
Right, because blacks are the ones responsible for how they're portrayed in the media.
Re: Is the shared economy racist?
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
"The elimination of overt racial discrimination in private businesses is actually a wonderful example of concerted government action addressing a problem that according to free market theories shouldn't even have existed in the first place." Just to clarify Milton Friedman (A champion of free market economics) readily acknowledges racism. His argument is more along the lines of "in the long term racist businesses wil…
Individuals don't care about the long term, they care about their personal experience while they are alive. Just another point against Friendman and his "understanding" of the world.
Right, Lenin or Stalin made everyone equal really fast, what's wrong with you Obama?
Re: Is the shared economy racist?
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
OK, but as dublinben points out, one must consider the businesses these services are meant to replace. He mentions taxicabs which are notoriously racist, do you suppose Bed and Breakfast owners might have different answers about vacancy depending on who asks? If the goal is to observe racism as it functions in our society, cool. If the goal is guilt-driven self-flagellation about the distinction between startups' mar…
I haven't used either of these services, but perhaps it is possible that these apps provide more information about the customer in advance than a traditional B&B or taxi driver would have access to. You can't necessarily tell somebody's race over the phone.
Uber certainly does this - it provides my photo to the driver, and provides me a photo of an African or Arab guy.
Re: Is the shared economy racist?
#58This is so depressing to make AirBnb or Uber responsible for the image of Black people that the Black people worked so long and hard to achieve and maintain.
Right, because blacks are the ones responsible for how they're portrayed in the media.
Right, because if media portrayed Asians as living in slums, not working and dealing drugs, the public would just buy it in a second.
Re: Is the shared economy racist?
#59White supremacy is an oppressive institution that reaches throughout all of society. Unless it is actively fought against, it will prevail.
>White Supremacy is an oppressive institution that reaches throughout all of society. Unless it is actively fought against, it will prevail. Or, you know, we could just educate people and get rid of racism in a way that doesn't swap one bad thing for another (like racist policies intended to favor non-whites, which I assume you're referring to).
I'm referring to white supremacy (racism) as a societal institution, not merely the actions and beliefs of individuals.
I wouldn't call policies which lessen the power of the white supremacy 'racist'.
Racism is an insidious cultural disease. It is so insidious that it doesn’t care if you are a white person who likes black people; it’s still going to find a way to infect how you deal with people who don’t look like you. Yes, racism looks like hate, but hate is just one manifestation. Privilege is another. Access is another. Ignorance is another. Apathy is another. And so on. So while I agree with people who say no one is born racist, it remains a powerful system that we’re immediately born into. It’s like being born into air: you take it in as soon as you breathe. It’s not a cold that you can get over. There is no anti-racist certification class. It’s a set of socioeconomic traps and cultural values that are fired up every time we interact with the world. It is a thing you have to keep scooping out of the boat of your life to keep from drowning in it. I know it’s hard work, but it’s the price you pay for owning everything.
- Scott Woods (http://scottwoodsmakeslists.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/5-thing...)
Re: Is the shared economy racist?
#60This reminds me of a sad old joke.
In the south, whites don't mind if blacks are around, so long as they aren't uppity. In the north, whites don't mind if blacks are uppity, as long as they're not around.
Having spent time among both southern rednecks and northern intellectuals, it rings painfully true.